Cord support



M. F. PAUL CORD SUPPORT Sept. 23, 1958 Filed Dec. 27,, 1952 ifgjl'lw 5% g:

INVENTOR Mdfi/[d Paul.

ATTORNEY United States Patent filice Patented Sept. 23, 1958 CORD SUPPORT Mahrle Fredrick Paul, Jackson, Mich.

Application December 27, 1952, Serial N 0. 328,193

1 Claim. (Cl. 105--150) The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for handling flexible conduit and conductor lines such as electrical drop lights, electrical extension cords, air and water lines, and the like, in which the flexible conduit or conductor line extends from an outlet to a mobile electrical consumer or, in the case of an air or water line, to a nozzle or chuck.

According to the disclosure of the invention, the flexible line handling apparatus takes the form of a plurality of carriages supported upon a taut wire or its equivalent with adjacent carriages having adjacent lengths of the flexible line draped between them. Apparatus similar in function to the present invention is disclosed in United States Patent Nos. 2,205,665 and 2,571,832. The present invention distinguishes over the prior art in a patentable manner by its simplicity of construction, lower cost of manufacture and its relative freedom from maintenance while in service.

Thus, an object of the invention is to provide an improved mobile support for flexible electric power supplying cords, air, water, and other fluid lines, and the like.

Another object is to provide an improved wire supported carriage for flexible lines of the type described.

Another object is to provide a novel supporting and tensioning structure for the carriage wire of apparatus of the type described.

These and other objects and advantages residing in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts will more fully appear from the following specification and the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side-elevational view of the cord handling apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line lI-Il of Fig. 1 of the reel bolt,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line IIIIII of Fig. 1 of the carriage wheel, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line lV-IV of Fig. l of the hook over which the cord is draped and clamped.

Referring to the drawings, a line handling apparatus comprising a carriage 10, a taut wire 12, or its equivalent, and a wall support and reel 14 located at opposite ends of the wire 12. The carriage is preferably fabricated from a single piece of sheet metal having a vertical main panel portion 16 with a longitudinally extending stifiening rib 18 formed therefrom. At opposite ends of the carriage 10 are integral ears 20 which overlie the wire 12. Shoulder rivets 22 support the flanged wheels 24 for free rotation. Preferably, the wheels 24 are molded from a suitable material having self-lubricating character- 2 isticsfwhich avoid the necessity of lubrication .as welL-as the possibility of the wheels freezing upon the axis-provided by the rivets 22.

Along the lower edge of the panel 16 and integrally formed therewith is a hook portion 26 which is shaped to provide a smooth arcuate supporting surface to the length of the electrical conductor cord 28 draped thereover, in the illustrated form of the invention. A screw 30 retains the cord 28 on the hook portion 26 and may beemployed to clamp that portion of the cord 28 disposed in the hook portion 26.

It will be understood that usually a plurality of carriages 10 will be supported along the wire 12 with the cord 28 draped between adjacent carriages 10. One end of the cord 28 will be connected to an electrical outlet while the other end will be connected to a mobile electrical consumer. As the consumer is moved with a linear component parallel to the wire 12, the carriage 10 moves along the wire 12 under the influence of the tension on the end of the cord 28. When the carriages 10 are moved toward each other, the cars 20 act as bumpers.

To support and tighten the wire 12 I have provided an improved combination support and reel 14 which takes the form of a sheet metal bracket 32 having flanges 34 to receive screws or bolts 36 anchored in the wall 38. The U-portion 40 has aligned holes 42 and 44 to receive a shoulder bolt 46. A nut 48 clamps the lower leg of the U-portion 40 against the shoulder 50 of the bolt 46. Between the shoulders 50 and the head 52 of the bolt 46 is a cylindrical reel portion 54 upon which the wire 12 may be coiled to tighten the same. As shown, the reel portion 54 has a transverse hole 56 into which one end of the wire 12 is inserted to be clamped in position by the end of the screw 58 located in the threaded hole 60 of the bolt 46. By applying a wrench 'to the head 52, with the nut 48 loosened, the reel portion 54 is rotated to wind the wire 12 thereupon to tighten the same and thereafter the nut 48 is tightened to hold the wire 12 taut. An elongated opening 62 in the U-portion 40 is provided to receive the wire as it is wound upon the cylindrical portion 54.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the flexible line supporting and carrying structure heretofore described will function to keep drop cords, air and water lines, and the like, off the floor and thus increase the life span of such cords and lines. The construction of the wheels of the carriage and the associated parts is such that the carriage 10 cannot bump the wire 12 regardless of the angle of pull. By fabricating the wheels 24 from such a material as nylon they will last indefinitely and require no oiling or other servicing. The construction of my improved line supporting assembly is such that it may be inexpensively frabricated and readily installed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is new and desire to cover by Letters Patent is:

A carriage and support assembly for flexible conduit and conductor lines of the type described comprising an elongated support member adapted to be horizontally tensioned between two points and along which the carriage is adapted to be traversed, a carriage adapted to be mounted on said support and movable therealong, said carriage comprising a vertically disposed. plate, a pair of horizontally spaced bearing means adapted to rest on said support and attached to one side of said plate adjacent opposite ends thereof, retaining flanges on said bear.

ing means, said flanges being spaced from one side of said plate and defining therewith horizontally aligned grooves to receive said support, bumper structure at the ends of said plate and projecting from said one side of said plate to be disposed in a plane slightly below that occupied by said support and below the plane of said grooves to assist in confining said support in said grooves between said flanges and said one side, and line attachment means on said plate located below and between said bearing means and disposed in substantially the plane of 10 said bearing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schulgen Oct. 9, 1877 Wolf Oct. 9, 1894 Kerr June 29, 1909 Brown Aug. 27, 1912 Hutchison Dec. 11, 1923 Flinn Feb. 18, 1941 Chapin Oct. 16, 1951 Reece et al June 30, 1953 

